Prevention is…

We’ve said before that the goal of our work with children at risk is prevention.

If someone doesn’t step in and intervene many of the children in Jaco are on a life track straight into poverty, prostitution, exploitation and crime.

So what does prevention mean? And what does it look like?

Prevention is reading Dr. Seuss. Again and again.

Prevention is going to church each Sunday.

Prevention is sharing a picnic…

… and resting on a blanket in the shade of a tree with a full belly.

Prevention is surfing,

and sandy snacks.

Prevention is holding puppies…

…and making new friends.

Prevention means visiting homes…

…and opening your heart.

Prevention is self portraits…

…and sandcastles.

Prevention is paintings of sunshine…

…and expressing yourself with scissors and glue

Prevention is doing these things over and over and over again.

It’s being consistent, committed and never giving up.

It’s loving when you’re tired and having hope when things seem hopeless.

Prevention is the Spirit infusing every ounce of what you do, being a consistent presence in the lives of these children, showing them a different way of relating and what love is.

It’s showing these kids that you believe in them, that they have value and that just because the lives of people around them are destroyed doesn’t mean that their’s has to be too. There’s another way to live.

It’s showing them that their life can be beautiful. Lift your sights out of the mire! There is beauty to be found each and every day!

Prevention means all of this and more – and it’s what we’re all about.